All the Little Things
by jamespotteriloveyou
Summary: ""I don't even understand why you like her so much." James just rolled his eyes and focused his attention on the red headed girl sitting across the room."


_A/N: Hey guys. I don't know where this came from because I was trying to write Teddy and Victoire when this popped into my head. But I'm not going to question James and Lily :)_

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"I don't even understand why you like her so much."

James just rolled his eyes and focused his attention on the red headed girl sitting across the room. She was writing something, her tongue sticking out from between her teeth and her hair falling out of the bundle on top of her head. He didn't know what she was writing- term was over so it wasn't homework. He couldn't actually put his finger on the reason he fancied her so much.

"I mean, she treats you like shit."

Sirius was right- Lily rarely had a nice word to say to him. But when she did, James couldn't help but get all tongue-tied at the way she smiled. And for some reason, his natural reaction was to make some snide remark about how swotty she was. Which obviously and totally turned her off him. Plus there was the fact that he constantly bullied her best friend- well, ex best friend now, he thought guiltily. So really, she had a right to treat him like shit when he so readily, if not purposely, did the same to her.

"She's not even fit like Vance. Or McKinnon, now _she's fit_."

James raised an eyebrow as Lily rolled up the parchment and slipped it into an envelope. She arched her back and stretched her arms and James groaned- Sirius had to be lying. James couldn't see how any girl could ever be as pretty or wonderful or fit. Such a small, common act like stretching was capable of making him feel utterly ridiculous for Merlins' sake! At least when she did it. And he was a sixteen year old boy for Christ's sake- it was hard enough to control his hormones as it was without her contorting her body like that.

"Plus, her teeth are crooked and her nose is too long."

Lily got up from her spot at the table and slipped the envelope in her bag and James watched her disappear up the stairs. He had tried to follow her up those stairs on multiple occasions. He couldn't count the number of times he had fallen down that slide, forgetting that he couldn't go up to the girls' dorms because he was so caught up in an argument with her.

"Oh, and her voice- it's all bossy and annoying. And her laugh- no wait, she doesn't laugh, she cackles!"

Lily reappeared from upstairs and went over to join her friends by the fire. They were laughing and Lily's 'cackle' as Sirius called it carried across the room. James liked her laugh. It was loud and unrestrained- it was one of the only times he could truly see the real Lily underneath the hard, tough exterior she used to make people think she didn't care about being called a Mudblood or a bitch or a swot.

"And have I mentioned the fact that she treats you like shit?"

She looked up then, and their eyes met. James looked away quickly and tried to make it look as if he had been actively listening to the conversation. Sirius went on but James wasn't really paying attention, he was debating whether it would be safe to turn around and look at her again. He didn't want to look like a total twat staring at her and he definitely didn't want to get caught doing it twice. But he liked to take chances and live on the wild side. At least that's what he told himself in a vain attempt to regain his cool. He was a total nerd when it came to Lily Evans and he readily admitted it- well, to himself anyway.

"I just don't understand why you're so hung up on her."

As he turned to look at Lily again, he smiled. Maybe it wasn't just one thing- it was all the little things about her that you really had to look to see. Sirius didn't see them because he wasn't actively looking, but James, he saw them. He saw every quirk of her lips and every twitch of her nose and every tap of her fingers against her thigh. He saw the way she put her guard up when he was around and the way she let it fall when she was with her friends. He saw the way she tried to act like nothing bothered her when people were saying things about her. The way Sirius was at the moment.  
As if she could feel his eyes on her, Lily looked over at him again and gave him a small, half smile before turning back to her friends. After everything she had been through that week, some of which was at least partly his fault, she could still muster up a smile for him. She could forgive the fact that he had cost her her best friend- something he felt guilty about even if he played it off in front of his friends- and smile at him.

And if James didn't know he was in love with her before, he certainly knew it now.

"Honestly Prongs, I don't know how you put up wi-"

"Shut the fuck up, Sirius."

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_Hope you enjoyed it. I also hope you leave me a review and let me know if you did._

_Also, I want to make this clear- I totally think Sirius shipped Jily. I just think he started doing it once both James and Lily 'mellowed out' or whatever (because I hate saying that they changed for each other) and this is him trying to help his best mate stop liking her because he sees how crazy she makes James. But I totally think he was captain of the SS Jily and I think he fangirled like crazy when the two of them finally got together.  
_


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